


Check the grin, you're in love.

by SnitorisSnape



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hercules (1997), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, failed seduction attempts, should i tag what else is in this fic lmao, whispers it's the weak ankles scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-24 08:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7500588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnitorisSnape/pseuds/SnitorisSnape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Axel, Lord of the Dead, has been throwing every curve he can think of at everyone's favorite hero (and his personal mortal enemy) Sora. Though somewhere along the way, it occurs to Axel that maybe he hasn't been throwing the <i>right</i> curves at him. Cue Riku, who never wanted things turn out this way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Check the grin, you're in love.

**Author's Note:**

> i can blame this fic on a product of me being jacked up on mouth pain and going crazy stuck at home all day packing, but not the au idea itself. i've always kinda been obsessed with like, flirty minion of the underworld Riku whose just scared of getting his heart broken and the clumsy, braggy, earnest boy-wonder, Sora, even though a disney movie au of kingdom hearts is super surreal lol.

It was the first thing Riku had noticed about the kid, and it was what Riku was so enraptured with now- the way his gestures were so frequent and open he almost looked like an actor trying to over-exaggerate his motions to be visible across an entire amphitheatre. But, much unlike an actor, there was no rehearsed perfection to the way he waved about his arms to punctuate a story; like everything else Sora did, his movements were ernest and a little clumsy.

Sora walked down the steps, haphazardly not watching his feet (which Riku wished he would do, because, as aforementioned, _clumsy_ ) and instead beamed up at Riku, caught up in the excitement of his own story. Riku nodded along, smirk too fond, not the demeaning and above-it-all one he had attempted.

This wasn’t part of the plan.

Goddamn little dork.

Goddamn awful haired, stupidly blue eyed dork, practically craning his neck because he was so little accompanied with the fact of being two steps below Riku and smiling at Riku like that, as if Riku had done something to deserve that smile, as if Riku was a litter of puppies and not a godawful, manipulative person.

“Jeez, what a day,” Sora finished with, lowering his arms and shaking his head, little snort of laughter. It was too contagious. Riku found himself chuckling as well, before he quickly ebbed back into nagging fear. 

A sharp, _”Pssst”_ was quietly hissed somewhere behind Riku, and he glanced over to see a ruffled, yellow bird and a smaller, black counterpart perched in a stone basin. Roxas and Xion, with another disguise and another oh so helpful reminder.

“Stop messing around,” Roxas seethed, and Xion angrily wagged her head in agreement. Riku had half a mind to kick over the bird bath and crush the two, but that might prompt some curiosity from Sora that could lead to a blown cover. Though, maybe a blown cover would be better, because then Riku end this whole charade before Sora got hurt. Also, kicking Roxas and Xion would be very, _very_ fulfilling.

But then Riku glanced down to see Sora still giving him that vibrant smile, and Riku was still a godawful person who would rather have Sora think he was someone deserving of that smile than tell Sora the truth and save Sora from Axel and all of Axel’s hackneyed plans.

Sora looked away, coughed, and then rubbed at the back of his neck shyly. “I’m so glad you convinced me to slip out.” Now he was looking at Riku with another one of those damn things, this one just as open and earnest as all the others, but smaller, and softer, and almost intimate in the way it was intended not for a crowd of cheering fans but just for Riku.

“My pleasure, kiddo.” Riku offered a lopsided smile and a nonchalant shrug. “Bird-brain works you too hard.” 

Speaking of bird-brains, another grating hiss of “Come _on,_ Riku”, sounded behind him, this time from Xion, making him miss Sora’s light laugh and arm gesture accompanying his defending of his trainer, Donald.

Riku shot the hell-minions-disguised-birds an icy glare. He didn’t need all their nagging reminders to recall that he was supposed to be here to seduce Sora into telling him a weakness, not be seduced by Sora’s bubbling laughs and unfairly short toga. “-but still, I had so much fun today.” Sora’s words snapped Riku’s attention back to him, away from the two creatures fluttering off. “Seriously. Thanks, Riku.”

“Heh, don’t thank me,” Riku sighed. Sora gave him a puzzled sort of look and Riku ignored how cute it was, trying to wrack his brains for how to properly goad a good guy into telling secrets. It should have been easy, Riku had done it dozens of times, with people far less impressionable than some muscly, goody-two-shoes, incredibly naive eighteen year old from a tiny little island. But no, apparently this trusting dweeb with his precious grin was the master of tripping Riku up.

Tripping Riku up.

A little obvious, too obvious, actually; Riku would have never tried it on anyone but this dope. He fell forward, giving out a startled and theatrical gasp as he came crashing down into Sora’s arms that quickly outstretched to catch him.

Riku adjusted himself, pressing against Sora’s chest to pointedly blink up at him. Riku was kneeling a lot to be in a position where he was looking _up_ at Sora, already lanky and miles above most people. Sora looked down with utmost concern. “Are you okay?” he asked, all genuine worry and no suspicion at all about how _obvious_ that was.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Riku assured him. Sora relaxed a bit, arms still holding onto Riku’s sides. Riku wasn’t sure if it was too much, but he still decided to give it a try. “Now that you’re here.”

Sora laughed, apparently all the sultriness in Riku’s voice had gone way over his head. “You’re kinda clumsy, huh?” Sora questioned, a hint of smugness in his voice.

Oh, like Riku wanted to be hearing that from Wonderboy. Riku was greatly tempted to roll his eyes, but instead he sighed, “No, just got weak ankles.”

“Weak ankles, huh?” Sora repeated, looking thoughtful. Riku straightened himself back up, making sure to still keep their bodies pressed close and look down at Sora through lidded eyes. Sora gave him a grin that was almost mischievous. 

“Maybe you should sit down,” was the only forewarning Riku got, one hand slipping down Riku’s back to grab him around the legs and the other still holding Riku to his chest as Sora hoisted Riku up into his arms.

Riku felt really hot really suddenly, and not just from the heat Sora’s body was radiating, but that was certainly part of it too. He only managed to process the fact his feet were no longer on the ground, and that Sora’s chest felt really nice to lean his head against before he was being gently placed down on a bench, Sora giving him a shy chuckle before sitting down beside him.

Riku’s shoulders straps had slipped down a little in the process, and Riku gave a small shrug of his shoulders, letting them slip down even further, trying to recover from the weird feelings happening in his ribcage as he leaned back on his hands. “Have you got anything like that?” Riku prompted, slowly drawing the tips of his toes alongs the back of Sora’s calf. “Weak ankles, Sora?”

“Uh,” Sora squeaked, “Nope.”

“Really?” Riku raised his eyebrows, sitting up, making sure the hem of his clothing fell a few more inches as he did. Sora’s eyes flashed down, only for a second, but a second was all it took before he was sweating nervously. “Everyone’s got a weakness, haven’t they?” Riku brought his legs up onto the bench for leverage before he shifted forward, running his fingers down the front of Sora’s chest ever so slowly.

Sora just gave another “Uhm,” less dignified than the last, watching Riku’s fingers trail down, down, down until they were past the hem of Sora’s toga and gripping at his bare thigh.

“Surely you’ve got one too,” Riku drawled. He dug his nails into Sora’s leg, just a little, just enough to make Sora jump. “Something that just brings you right down to your knees?” 

“N-n-no?” Sora tried again, attempting to grin despite the look of absolute panic in his eyes.

Riku smirked, moving forward until he was straddling Sora, weight on his knees, holding himself a few inches above Sora so that Riku was all but in sitting his lap. “Nothing?” he mused. “Nothing that makes you bite at your lip- try to stop yourself from crying out?” Riku took the hand off Sora’s leg, rolling his shoulder back and letting his toga slide all the way down to his ribcage.

Sora’s breath hitched, eyes almost drifting downwards before quickly snapping back up. Riku’s eyes were downcast on Sora’s mouth, voice low. “Makes you clench your toes? Leaves you…” he poked a finger to Sora’s chest. “ _trembling?_ ”

Sora just made some incoherent splutter and averted his eyes. “No, nothing like that-” Sora mumbled, and Riku felt a tug on the fabric he had shucked down to his elbows as Sora pulled Riku’s straps back up to his shoulders. Riku barely had time to register the action before he was being pushed backwards onto the bench as Sora hastily stood up.

“-I’m in perfect condition,” Sora assured him, nervous laugh and accompanied flex of his arms.

Riku blinked in surprise, slouched against the bench, not sure at all how to react or even process the fact he had literally thrown himself onto someone only to have himself redressed.

Riku ran a hand through his bangs, pushing them back. “Yeah, you’re perfect all right,” he muttered to himself. Goddamn little dork. He bit at the inside of his cheek, wondering what he was supposed to do now, watching Sora walk over to the pond and start skipping stones. 

He rubbed at his temples, watching Sora with disdain. Why couldn’t Sora have been like all the other stuck up and self-centered “heros” Riku had met? Why was it the one person Axel was so _hell bent_ on killing so likeable and… _good_? Riku sighed deeply, getting up to his feet and walking over to join Sora.

It was almost graceful how Sora picked up a stone and flicked his wrist, skipping it across the water. But before Riku could be too impressed Sora lived up to the “Blunderboy” nickname Axel had coined for him once again, the rock colliding into a statue on the other side of the water and shattering it.

Riku snorted. “Excellent job.”

Sora scratched at his cheek. “Whoops,” he chuckled, giving Riku an apologetic smile. Riku returned it without even meaning to. 

Sora looked away, mussing up his hair with his hand. “You know, ever since I was a kid all I wanted was to go on adventures and meet people.” Sora spoke the words almost like a confession.

“Yeah?” Riku looked at him with interest, wondering what had brought this on. He could kind of relate the words himself. There had been a when he had wished to seek new horizons, but those desires had vanished along with all the other naive and childish ideas Riku had about the world a long time ago.

“Yeah, I’ve got to meet a lot of great people since I started training with Donald.” Sora paused, meeting Riku’s eyes with a fond expression before adding, “I’m glad you were one of them.”

The first thing Riku felt was a rush of warm and a near delirious smile tugging at his lips, but reality set in after mere seconds. It was ridiculous Sora should be so glad, considering the reason Riku was here in the first place.

“Yeah, well, meeting people is great and all.” Riku turned away, hair falling into his face. He crossed his arms, hugging himself, taking a step away. “Until you get to know them.”

A second later he felt a hand on his shoulder, the touch strangely hesitant and gentle for Sora. Riku bristled at the unexpected physical contact. “What makes you say that?”

“If you don’t know someone, they can’t hurt you.” Riku was surprised by how raw his voice sounded.

“You think everyone’s out to try and hurt other people?”

“I think that sums it up pretty well.” Riku laughed, hollow and soft, cradling his arms to his chest a little closer. “People are selfish.”

“Everyone’s not like that.”

Riku glanced down, catching a glimpse of his reflection in the still water. “Yes they are.”

“...You’re not like that.”

Riku finally glanced back at Sora, looking through his bangs at the boy staring at him with so much empathy his heart might tear. Riku didn’t dare allow himself to respond ”Yes, _I am,”_ but he knew Sora could see the answer in Riku’s face and Riku hated himself for it.

“I think you’re awesome,” Sora told him softly, hand still on his shoulder, stepping closer. Riku couldn’t believe that _this_ contact was making his stomach squirm considering the close quarters earlier. But it was so gentle, something close to tender, the way Sora wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close, chin resting on his shoulder.

Riku gave a small start at the sudden hug, but it didn’t take long at all for him to relax. It was almost laughable to him, how much his body yielded to Sora’s, how comforted and secure Sora’s embrace was. Unsure and hesitant, Riku raised his arms and hugged Sora too.

“I’d never hurt you,” Sora mumbled into his shoulder. It was funny how much that made Riku’s heart ache. Riku didn’t know who was more naive, Sora for making a promise like that or himself for believing it so eagerly.

Riku willed himself to push away, to try and stop this, to tell Sora it was the other way around, but he just felt all that slip further and further away until all he could think of was how steady and warm Sora’s hands were as they held him tightly.

He didn’t know how long he could have stood there, holding Sora to him and feeling his heartbeat. In a perfect world they could do this forever, Riku _wanted_ to do this forever, and that terrified him. Riku was almost relieved when they were suddenly interrupted by an obnoxious squawk of, “So this is where you ran off to!”

Sora startled, pulling away. “Uh oh…” He flashed a nervous smile up at Riku, pink cheeks somewhat visible in the night. “I’m caught.”

“Just what do you think you’re doing?!” The duck screamed and Riku rolled his eyes, the sound more grating than he could deal with right now. “You’re going to be running laps until you drop, you lazy bum!”

“Oh, _relax,_ ” Riku spat, crossing his arms. “Wonderboy’s innocent, okay? I was the one who convinced him to sneak out.” Relieved that they had been broken apart before Riku could do something stupid? Yes. Pleased about it? No.

“I’m already itching to give you a what for so don’t make it worse,” Donald warned, voice dripping with venom before leaping up and grabbing Sora by the ear, impressively pulling him down and trying to drag the buff boy back to the training center.

“Give me a minute,” Sora complained, trying to shove Donald off.

“You’ve got less than a minute,” Donald spat, releasing his grip for a moment so Sora could stand back up.

Riku offered an unsure smile. “Sorry I got you in trouble.”

Sora beamed in response. “Nah, it was worth it. I had a great time today.” Sora chanced a brief look at Donald, standing a few feet away, foot tapping and glowering at the two. “He’ll get over it.”

“Time’s up!” Donald shrieked, and Riku was filled with the intense urge to kick a bird for the second time that night.

“Well…” Sora said, but didn’t continue, rubbing at the back of his neck and looking down. Grinning, per the norm.

Riku raised an eyebrow. “Well?” he asked.

“Well I guess I’ll see you again soon,” Sora finished. Riku’s response froze on his tongue as in the blink of an eye Sora was leaning forward on tiptoes and pressing a brief, chaste kiss to Riku’s mouth.

Riku’s brain shorted out, his only thought passing through his head was that Sora was even a clumsy kisser; he had pressed his face against Riku’s far harder than necessary. Riku blinked in a confused state, raising a hand to his lips, watching Sora run after the duck, waving excitedly over his shoulder and ignoring the shrieking verbal abuse.

Dumbfounded, Riku found his legs to be shaky and sat down on the stone wall surrounding the pool, finger still on his lips, head still a mess.

“What is the matter with me?!” Riku groaned once his brain had caught up. He slumped down, elbow resting on his knee and blowing his bangs out of his face in frustration. “You’d think a guy would learn…” He just _had_ to go and fall in love all over again, this time with the person he was supposed to help destroy.

Wait.

Riku straightened up a bit.

Love?

Oh no.

No.

He was _not_ going to say he was in love.

**Author's Note:**

> pfft don't look at me everything i write is so siLLY  
> also fun fact I HATE SORIKU AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *shakes fist* ive written too much this is getting ridiculous xDDD these dorks are killing me (I don't hate soriku. i like it a lot)  
> 


End file.
